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Monday, August 20, 2012

Mahabharata with Surf Excel


The armies of Kaurva and Pandava stood facing each other in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The armies consisted of thousands of Elephants, Horses, soldiers, various kings and greats like Bhisma, Dronocharya , Kripa , Yudisthra , Arjuna and Krishna, all set for a historic and an epic battle. The attackers were equipped with bow and arrow, axes, swords, maces and lances. The mood was sombre, tension gripped the air and each of them smelled blood of the enemy, that was just hundreds of metres ahead. The commander of Kaurva’s army was Bhisma and Pandavas were lead by Yudhistra. The start of the battle was going to be announced in few minutes and each flank was discussing their strategy.
Arjuna’s chariot was being driven by Lord Krishna himself and here what we see…. Arjuna struck by utter grief and self-doubt, gets down from his chariot and abandons his arms. He realized that he would have to fight and probably kill his uncle, granduncle, cousin brothers, kith and other kin to win this war. He feels extremely sick and weak, only with the  prospect of this barbaric act. Arjuna looks nowhere close to the great warrior the world knew. In this state of confusion and hopelessness he turns to Krishna.
‘Oh lord!! I have no desire to fight this battle if this implies killing of my teacher, friends and kin. I need no kingdom, no riches for such a victory and even if I win, I lose it all’
‘Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana, Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani’
Parth !! You have a right to perform your act, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be associated to not doing your duty.’
‘There is an ongoing war within ourselves between the good and the evil and for us to emerge victorious every human being has to wage a war.’
‘Soak no more…..Soak no more in grief, Arjuna and it is a call of action to do your duties in the most selfless manner.

Krishna and Arjun in the battlefield of Kurukshethra
Krishna and Arjun in the battlefield of Kurukshethra



Bhisma blows ‘Shankha’ and the war is started. The armies start running towards each other and instantly rains start pouring down heavily. Everyone leaves the battlefield and runs for a shelter and there is chaos everywhere.

The heavy dresses with ornaments and arms are too heavy for the school kids to carry in the rains.We call off the final rehearsal and rush to help the kids find their way back to the dressing room.  Sixth grade students had chosen to enact the skit “ Mahabharata” for the annual skit competition and I am helping them as an event manager. Event management for a school fest is pretty complex as it not only involves logistics, behind the scene activity but we have to also ensure that the kids participate with enthusiasm and successfully deliver. The kids these days, are a talented bunch and work very strenuously to win in contests and competitions. The rehearsal went quite well and we as a team have bonded well, our preparations quite satisfactory and possibly putting us a strong contender for the first prize.

Holy God!!  I just realize that the rains have ruined all my aspirations and dashed our hopes for a prize.  The final event is tomorrow and we just have few hours left for the day to end. Relentless rains have dirtied all the costumes in mud and dirt and the kids are too unwary of the fact that I don’t have a second set of dresses for them. Where in the world do I go and manage a fresh set? How do I clean them at such a short notice?? My event team had faced so much difficulty altering dresses and coming up with a perfect fit for each kid, and now I stand on the brink of a disaster. I have to deliver at any cost and as Krishna says in the play “It is call of action and I have to act and fulfill my duty, soak no more in grief but act"


We pack all the dresses and rush to our workshop to act quickly. Here comes our savior in the form of ‘New Surf Excel Matic’. I am told by my colleague that Surf Excel Matic has the power of “Vibrating Molecules” to penetrate deeply embedded stains and remove them effectively, so no soaking before washing. It is 5 PM by my watch and I have to wash 120 set of dresses, dry them, iron them and reach the school by 7 AM next morning. I am a bit relieved that we don’t need to soak anymore and straight away put the clothes in the industrial washing machine. Here we go!! The results are fabulous and not even a stain left and I am amazed to the core.

Surf Excel IndiBlogger Blogging Contest
Surf Excel IndiBlogger Blogging Contest



The announcement follows ‘Team Mahabharata please commence your act’.

My kids start parading to the ground one by one in the most fresh, bright and polished costumes. The crowd erupts in joy and claps for a while to appreciate the massive buildup for the skit. We do a fine act and emerge as runner up in the competition and also bag the prize for the best costume and design.

‘Thanks Surf Excel!!’  I smile softly and run to join the kids in the celebrations!!

This post is for the Indiblogger contest " Soak No More" powered by Surf Excel.

14 comments:

Saru Singhal said...

An act within an act. Very interesting, I liked the idea.

Good luck Vivek!!!

Viveksheel said...

Thanks Saru for reading this post. I too went through your post the day before and found your dream quite interesting too :):)

Best of luck to you as well !!

Sweta said...

Nice take on topic Vivek...
Best of luck for contest :)

Rekha said...

:) enjoyed reading your post. Good one.

Viveksheel said...

Hi Sweta !! Thanks for reading through. Appreciate your interest and wishes :):)

Viveksheel said...

Rekha - If you liked it and others too, my job is done. A blogger loves readership :):)

Bikram said...

well first of all , all the best for the contest ..

I hope you have used the correct way it happened dont want the hindu hard liners coming and commenting here :) he he he

Loved reading it
Bikram's

Panchali said...

Thank god for small mercies....I guess the story just served a purpose - it was meant to drive home a point, which it did quite emphatically :-)Brilliant!
A winning piece...
All the best!!

Viveksheel said...

Hi Bikramjit !!

Thanks for the wishes. I am delighted that you found my take interesting and worth a read. Let's see when hardliners start reading my blog :):)

Viveksheel said...

Panchali- I write because it gives me pleasure and when people like you feel the post in word and spirit, the happiness gets doubled. It does not really matter what i think in isolation, what is more important, if i have been able to strike a chord with fellow bloggers.

I visited your blog too and find that you write on diversified topics right from fruit juice to short story and more.Feels great to find an intellectual like you through the comment page. Keep reading and keep sharing!!

ekta khetan said...

Interesting one!

And I hate word verification :(

Viveksheel said...

Hi Ekta !! I feel happy that you found my take interesting. BTW i did not quite understand, where did this word verification come into the picture??

Saurabh Chawla said...

nicely written. All the best!

Viveksheel said...

Thanks Saurabh !! Appreciate your interest in my post.